Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by laura. laura Wonders, “Who made Playdough?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, laura!

Have you ever used playdough? It can be so much fun! It comes in so many different colors and can turn into anything you imagine. Kids turn playdough into snakes, flowers, houses… anything! Have you ever WONDERed made play dough?

Play dough was actually invented by accident. In the 1930s, Noah McVicker worked for his family’s soap company. It was called Kutol Products. There, he made a new kind of wallpaper cleaner. It looked like putty and was made of flour, water, salt, and many other ingredients.

McVicker’s cleaner was an excellent for wallpaper. It didn’t contain any toxic chemicals. It could also be reused. Better yet, it didn’t stain the wallpaper. However, he had no idea that it had another use.

Teachers found a way to use the wallpaper cleaner at school. They realized it was great for making art and craft projects. In fact, it worked as a modelingcompound much like clay. Students could shape the soft material with their hands. Then, they could turn it into something else or let it dry!

Years later, Noah McVicker’s nephew, Joseph McVicker, joined the company. He’s the one who learned that teachers were using the wallpaper cleaner for arts and crafts. Joseph suggested giving the product a new name — Play-Doh®. Then, he marketed it to schools and department stores.

The new product was a huge success. In 1956, the McVickers started the Rainbow Crafts Company to make and sell Play-Doh®. The new company also started advertising the product on popular children’s television shows, such as Captain Kangaroo. Within a year, its sales had reached almost $3 million!

What’s in Play-Doh®? The recipe is a secret. However, we know Play-Doh® is non-toxic, easy to use, and simple to clean up. That makes it a very popular modelingcompound for use in schools.

Today, Play-Doh® is owned by a company named Hasbro. It makes and sells the product through its Playskool line. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association added Play-Doh® to its “Century of Toys List.” This contains the 100 most memorable and creative toys of the last 100 years.

Play-Doh® comes in many bright and bold colors. There are also many toys that make use of Play-Doh®. Since its invention, people around the world have bought over 700 million pounds of Play-Doh®!

Do you use Play-Doh® at school? How about at home? Have you ever used it to clean wallpaper? Just kidding! Play-Doh® is a great tool for young sculptors today. What‘s your favorite thing to make out of the material?

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annie kotis

Feb 23, 2019

This article was really interesting and it helped me a lot with my assignment because we had to research something that was made by mistake. I love playdoh so researching it was a pice of cake. Especially when i had a great article.

Wonderopolis

Ramsey

Jul 25, 2018

Fun fact: I am related to Noah McVicker! My great aunt was featured in Play-doh's first ever aired commercial when she was young and she has the dollar bill she earned from acting in it still framed in her kitchen.

Luke

Wonderopolis

Mar 12, 2018

Great question, Luke! The exact recipe for Play Doh is a secret, but it's fun to learn that the putty-like substance was first used as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930's! What are some of your favorite Play Doh creations?

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Gianna

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Meg

Jan 3, 2017

Thanks! I had to do this for my homework. These are my questions. How did Noah come up with play-doh? Were there any problems when he created it? How long did it take to make it work? Please answer! This website is the only one I trust!

Wonderopolis

Jan 4, 2017

So glad we have earned your trust, Meg! While our information on Noah McVickers ends here, we wish you good luck on further research. You have asked some great questions and we are WONDERing what you'll find out!

Wonderopolis

Oct 27, 2015

Hello, Wonder Friend! Good question! The official Wonderopolis Permissions Policy states:
Wonderopolis materials may be cited or excerpted in periodicals, books, and educational materials under the following stipulations:

1. A URL of the material referenced is provided so that readers may access it online
2. Inclusion of the following branding information: “Wonderopolis is brought to life by the National Center for Families Learning.”
Since our Wonders are sometimes updated, the proper way to cite the publishing date is to list the date you consulted our page for your research. Thanks for visiting Wonderopolis! :)

Tanya Dhatt

Wonderopolis

Oct 20, 2015

Hi, Tanya! Thanks for asking! The official Wonderopolis Permissions Policy states:
Wonderopolis materials may be cited or excerpted in periodicals, books, and educational materials under the following stipulations:

1. A URL of the material referenced is provided so that readers may access it online
2. Inclusion of the following branding information: “Wonderopolis is brought to life by the National Center for Families Learning.”
Since our Wonders are sometimes updated, the proper way to cite the publishing date is to list the date you consulted our page for your research. Thanks for visiting Wonderopolis! :)

sam

Wonderopolis

Dec 3, 2012

Hey there, Sam! We hope that play dough doesn't make you sick, but if so, we hope that you find another cool toy to build and play with! Perhaps LEGOS are a better option! You can learn about them here: Wonder #639-- Who Invented LEGO® Blocks? :)

Michael

Wonderopolis

Sep 25, 2012

Hi there Michael, thanks for sharing your comment with us today! We Wonder if you and your brother ever play together with play dough? It's cool that you have learned some new information about play dough-- we bet you could teach your brother a thing or two about building some very cool play dough structures! :)

Xavier

Wonderopolis

Jun 4, 2012

That's a really great question, Xavier, and one that we haven't thought about before! We're not sure if people can have an allergic reaction to play dough. We'll both have to do a bit more WONDERing about that one! :-)

wonder

Wonderopolis

May 8, 2012

It's GREAT to hear from you today, "Wonder!" Thanks for sharing that you have all those containers of WONDERful play dough to play with! That's a LOT of FUN creativity just waiting to be opened and shared! :-)

d&m&s

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Hello, D and M and S! We're so happy you guys stopped by to learn about play dough with us today! Thanks so much for sharing about D's awesome play dough Mother's Day present...we bet it's AWESOME! :-)

Wonderopolis

Mr. Draper's Class

May 7, 2012

Sorry we were late today, we had a field trip! One of our student's cousins makes Play-Doh creations with friends. We have all used Play-Doh and some of us have tasted it GROSSSS! Do you know why Play-Doh dries out? We are hoping tomorrow's wonder is about Bigfoot. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

We hope you guys had LOTS of fun on your field trip, Mr. Draper’s Class! We LOVE field trips because they are perfect times to WONDER about the world around us! That's really neat that one of your classmate's cousins builds Play-Doh® creations...COOL!
We're not sure why some play doughs dry out. We have a feeling it's because of the ingredients, but we will have to WONDER some more about that! :-)

KF Dragons

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Awwww, thanks for the hugs and kisses, guys! We think our KF Dragons buddies ROCK and we're REALLY glad you guys like learning new things in Wonderopolis as much as we do! Thanks for sharing what you learned by visiting today's Wonder, Josie and Michael! :-)

cupcake

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Many Wonder Friends (just like YOU!) have GREAT memories of playing with play dough when they were younger, Cupcake! Many of those same Wonder Friends (including many of us here in Wonderopolis!) still like to play with play dough because it's SO MUCH FUN to create, shape, and build with! :-)

Bryce G.

May 7, 2012

I think play dough was invented for like models of houses to make sure something is built right. Also, it could be made just to define ideas for buildings or other structures like a sky scraper or a under ground science lab! Or it could be for fun a games to play with or something else!!!

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

We thought so, too, Haylee! We also thought it was awesome that Finn made his brother's name out of play dough first before he made his own! Thanks for being a SUPER Wonder Friend and leaving us a comment today! :-)

Room 4-First Grade

May 7, 2012

Dear Wonderopolis,
We never knew the invention of play-doh was an accident! It is funny that it was wall paper cleaner! We never knew that you can even make play-doh out of kool-aid! You can make so many things out of play-doh! We are wondering about tomorrow's wonder. What is afoot? It it like what is connected to our leg? Is it like the measurment? Could it be a football? Is it something different? We can't wait to know!
Thanks for the wonders!

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

You guys asked some SUPER questions about the clue for tomorrow's Wonder, Room 4-First Grade! When something is "afoot," that means it's about to happen or is just happening. We think we might understand that little play on words from the clue a little better when we visit tomorrow's Wonder...we can't WAIT! :-)

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Hi, Caelah! Thanks for leaving us another SUPER comment and asking us to explain something from our last reply to you! When we say you have a "positive" attitude, we mean you are excited and happy about learning! We really like that about you! :-)

Lucas from Mrs. Barboza's Clas...

May 7, 2012

I love play dough because I make pizza out of it and I make masks out of play dough and I make my own play dough. One time, I used it for a bowling game but it did not work. I made a bug with blue, red, yellow, and green play dough. There is a lot more, but now you know a few things that I do with play dough.

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

It's WONDERful to hear from you guys today, Mr. P. and Mr. Carroll’s and Mrs. Armfelt’s 3rd graders! Thanks for hanging out in Wonderopolis with us today and THANKS for WONDERing more about that list of 100 toys! Here are some more toys that made the list:
Yo-Yo
Monopoly
Silly Putty
Mr. Potato Head
Frisbee
Hula Hoop
LEGO Building Sets
Barbie
Etch-A-Sketch
Easy Bake Oven
Rubik's Cube
Super Soaker
K'NEX Building Sets
Groovy Girls
LeapPad
It's SUPER FUN to learn about so many GREAT toys! :-)

We learned that you can make Play-DoH~Caroline
You can make Play~Doh in different ways~Alle
You can make it out of dough~Clayton
Play-Doh was first made for cleaning wallpaper~Evan
What we still want to know:
Another recipe~Alle

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

WOW, Mr. Flinn’s Kindergarten class...you guys learned some SUPER fun facts about play dough! Thanks for sharing what you discovered today, Caroline, Alle, Clayton and Evan!
We found a SWEET play dough recipe for you guys! It's Peanut Butter Play Dough! http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/peanut-butter-playdough-714022/. :-)

Wonderopolis

Abby M.

May 7, 2012

Hey Wonderopolis! I think this article is SO COOL!!! Did you guys know that I have like 20 containers of Play Dough?! Some thing I LOVE to do with Play Dough is smell it! It smells so good! I wonder what tomorrow's wonder is about..............

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

We bet LOTS of Wonder Friends would agree with you about liking the way play dough smells, Abby! Even some of our "not-so-young" Wonder Friends like the smell, because it takes them back to their childhood and they remember playing and having FUN creating things with it! :-)

My little brother used to try to eat play dough, so my grandma got cookie dough that was colored, and put it in a thoroughly washed play dough container, and my little brother loved it and asked if we could put it in the oven and we said yes, it was pretty cool!
Love,
Hannah M. Kern :) :)

Barbara

May 7, 2012

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, PLAY DOUGH. I HAVE TONS OF PLAY DOUGH AT MY DAD'S APARTMENT. IT'S IN HIS ROOM, PUT UP FOR NOW BECAUSE HE HAS A DOG NAMED SHYLOH. SHE MIGHT CHEW UP THE PLAY DOUGH AND GET SICK FROM IT, TOO!
I HOPE YOU LOVE PLAY DOUGH, TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:-)

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Thanks for sharing how much you like playing and creating fun things with play dough, Barbara! We think it's GREAT that you and your dad keep the play dough in a safe place so that Shyloh doesn't get to it. We hope you have a MARVELOUS Monday! :-)

Madison

May 7, 2012

I like this wonder because I love to play with play dough. I think play dough is fun to play with because you can make cool things. Now I want to make play dough by using one of the recipes. I think play dough= Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! I love play dough this is why I like to come to wonderopolis. This was the best wonder so far.

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

It makes us SUPER happy to hear that you enjoyed today's Wonder of the Day® so much, Madison! You're right...playing with play dough is LOTS of FUN! With all the colors to choose from, there are SO MANY cool things we can make with it! :-)

Wonder

Wonderopolis

May 7, 2012

Good morning, "Wonder!" Thanks for letting us know you thought today's Wonder was AMAZING! We liked exploring all the links to make our own versions of play dough. The one made with Kool-Aid® was extra cool!
Did you know there is another Wonder that features something made with Kool-Aid®? It's Wonder #349 - Are All Pickles Sour? (https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/are-all-pickles-sour/). It has a WONDERful recipe for Kool-Aid® pickles! :-)

Wonderopolis

May 5, 2015

Hi, Chloe Bush! Thanks for remembering WONDERopolis! The official Wonderopolis Permissions Policy states:
Wonderopolis materials may be cited or excerpted in periodicals, books, and educational materials under the following stipulations:

1. A URL of the material referenced is provided so that readers may access it online
2. Inclusion of the following branding information: “Wonderopolis is brought to life by the National Center for Families Learning.”
Since our Wonders are sometimes updated, the proper way to cite the publishing date is to list the date you consulted our page for your research. We hope you have a WONDERful day! :)